We asked the big
question and got some responses. While it was alot less than I got in
previous questions, it was a fair amount. I remember when I could ask
something and get 300-500 responses. Now, I do not even get a hundred.
Anyway, here is the final vote.

As you can see, it
was fairly close. But the amount of total votes is quite discouraging.
Oh well. So starting next issue, we will open coverage to include
Nintendo 8-Bit, Sega Master System and Turbografx. I know some people
emailed saying that there was Bit Age Times for coverage of these
systems, but the truth is that Bit Age Times is history. I do not have
the time or desire to do two newsletters anymore.

If you have a
Playstation 2, there are now two more classic compilations to add to
your library. Both just recently came out and are priced at $19.99!
Hard to go wrong at that price, right? Read on and find out.

Midway
Arcade TreasuresWe will start with the Midway
Arcade Treasures. It is essentially the three compilation disks
released on the Playstation 1, now in one collection. For the low price
of $19.99, you are getting 24 classic arcade games. Almost every one is
a great game. Personally, I really like being able to go from early
1980's classics like Joust, Robotron and Root Beer Tapper to later hits
like Rampage, Gauntlet and Klax. There is enough variety that you can
find a game for anyone. There is also a good selection of multiplayer
games like Joust, Joust 2, Rampage, Rampart and Gauntlet. It is nice
that many of the small problems that were in the earlier versions
(framerate problems with Spyhunter and others) and the games are now
better set to work with the dual shock controllers. You can use the
dual shock on games like Robotron and Smash TV to better emulate the
arcade game. Sinistar works much better with the new setup and is
easier to play. Overall, the games work and look better.

One problem I found
is the menu. While I applaud Midway for trying something different with
the Egyptian Hieroglyphics, I do not think it works. It is quite
confusing at first, especially since the picture that shows up when you
go over a hieroglyphic does not always say the name of the game. After
awhile, you figure out all the games, but at first it is quite
confusing. But on a positive note, you can easily bounce back and forth
from one game to another.

A big bonus is that
it allows you to save high scores. This was one big sore spot that I
had with the Activision Anthology. This is what adds a ton of
replayability as you try put up a score that your friends and family
will not be able to beat. Such a little thing, yet it makes a world of
difference.

The extras are
nothing major. There is some interviews that were on the earlier
compilations and some extra information or pictures. Overall, it is a
nice addition, but nothing major. I wish they did a little more in this
department. Heck, they could have sent someone to the Classic Gaming
Expo and got a bunch of new information, interviews as well as a bunch
of photos. Oh well, I guess the budget was tight.

The only real
gripes I have with the collection are the lack of support for other
controllers. There is no trackball support for Marble Madness, despite
having it on the earlier compilations. This is a bummer, but not a big
deal. The other gripe is the lack of Burgertime. I can understand some
of the other games not included from the earlier compilations (Irem
wanted too much money to include Moon Patrol, reportedly and Infogrames
who now owns Atari did not want to give the rights to Millipede and
Crystal Castles, again reportedly). But Burgertime is a bummer as it is
one of my favorites from the earlier collections. My biggest dream
would have been to not only have Burgertime, but have as an unlockable,
Diner. I know it is a pipe dream, but we all need to dream.

Overall, it is an
awesome collection and at the low price of $19.99, it is a no brainer.
To put it into perspective, it would have cost you twice as much to get
a single game from this collection on the Nintendo 8-Bit that it costs
to get 24 games with extras on this one. And you are getting a nearly
arcade perfect version to boot. And with so many great games, you will
find this fast becoming one of your favorite compilations.

Intellivision Lives!Once again, I am reviewing the
Playstation 2 version. This is because I have a PS2 and it is the first
one out. Like the Activision Anthology collection, the Intellivision
Lives offers you a ton of games, some unlockables and some songs to
listen to. The two are very similar, but this is a good thing. So let
us look at the pros and cons of this collection.

The first thing you
will notice with the game is the look. It really does have the feeling
of being in a pizza parlor during the 1980's. There are arcade machines
around that have different games on them, grouped together by genres.
There is also a jukebox that works as a way to change options and some
photos on the wall that open up a history of Intellivision and
interviews. It is quite easy to navigate around the place and it is
quite nice. About the only things that I would have added would be a
few oddball mini games. You pass a dart board, how about allowing you
to throw a few games? Not a big deal and it probably would have
detracted from the Intellivision games, which are the stars of the
show. One thing I must mention is that you need to pay attention to
different lists of games as there are more than it shows. This is
pretty much limited to the sports arcade machine. It may say Baseball,
but there is really two games under it. You have the original and World
Championship Baseball. So if you take this into consideration, you will
soon find that there is well over the 60 games advertised, probably
closer to 65.

The games
themselves are well emulated. They look great (or as great as they
originally did) and the sound is dead on. Nice to have the music
playing in Thin Ice and Thunder Castle, two games that really had
outstanding music. For the most part, they work great with the
Playstation 2 dual shock controllers and there is even force feedback in
some of the games. This will surprise you the first time as it is
something that you do not expect from a classic game. It is nice that
there is some extras with every game. You can view the box art, read
some production notes on the individual game and there are different
game modes available. These are very similar to the ones on the
Activision Anthology with the modes being reversed, upside down, many
small screens and bouncing screen. These add a little, but most people
will stick with the original mode.

Each arcade game
has one game that has a challenge on it. This challenge will unlock
something, either a classic commercial or one of the unreleased games.
Most of the challenges are pretty easy to do (score 20,000 points on
Astrosmash or get 300 points on Frog Bog). The average person can
unlock most of them in a single day. A few may be a challenge, but none
are that hard. Also nice is the ability to save high scores on some of
the games. You must remember that many of the games would not have a
need for this. Baseball is one that there is no need to save high
scores, but it is nice to be able to on Frog Bog or Shark! Shark! It is
also nice as you can view these from the game menu to see who has what
scores. Nice feature and a must have in all future compilations.

There are some
negatives with the compilation. First off, getting a game ready can be
a chore. You have to use the select button to pull up a game overlay
and then use it to choose how many players and other settings. Big
problem with this is that the overlay is so small and so hard to read
that you cannot tell what you are hitting. For most games, it is no
problem, but for some like Utopia or Las Vegas Black Jack and Poker, it
can be a real pain. Also, games that require alot of use of the
overlays (like the aformentioned games), it will be a hassle to pop in
and out all the time. While some games have many of the commands mapped
to the controller, some require too many buttons for a PS2 controller.
I also question some of the choices. Do we really need Baseball and
World Championship Baseball? The latter is the same game with a few
improvements, one player mode, fly balls and the player slides into the
base. Wouldn't it have been better to add World Series Baseball
instead? Also, I was bummed to find that Tower of Doom was the only one
of the D & D trilogy to be ported. I know they did not want to pay
royalties, but couldn't they use the development names like they did on
the computer version? I hoped to find Minotaur as Treasures of Tarmin
was called. Last, why did they split the unreleased games between the
X-Box and PS2 versions? Wouldn't it be better to just offer all the
unreleased games on both versions? I do not understand the logic of
this one, except that they are trying to get classic gamers to buy the
same game twice. Cheap.

Outside of these
few flaws, this is an awesome compilation and once again it is very
reasonable priced at $19.99. I would recommend getting it quickly as
most stores are either not carrying it or only carrying a few copies. I
preordered mine and the store that I got it from was sold out
immediately (granted they only got 6 copies, all of which were
preorders). So it may turn out to be a collector's item in its own
right. By the way, I really enjoyed the song "My Intellivision" that is
one of the songs available to listen to. If anyone has an MP3 of this
song, please send it my way, I would really enjoy having it to listen
to. A great song.

Here is a complete
list of all the games (keep in mind that the three games that made up
Triple Action are listed individually):

For about 6 months now I've been telling myself and a fellow VG
collector at work, Tim Roach, that I'll post my Many Faces of data
(spreadsheet) online. The contains the scores
and other data and from all of my articles&
research for the games on the following systems: Apple II, Atari 2600,
5200, 7800, 8 bit computers (XEGS), CoCo, Colecovision, Commodore 64,Intellivision, Odyssey 2, Sinclair
Spectrum, TI-99, Vic 20 & Vectrex. Ikept
tweaking it to make it better, and adding more data and realized that
it is good enough for now. I also had to set up the html files for
posting it online etc. OK, you want to see it already . . . right? So
click onthe link below and then come back and
finish reading this article later.

Years of Research
People have asked me why I've done so much work and also what do I use
to base my scores on. Let me start with the research. I've been
working onthe Many Faces of project for over
4 years now. My work began well before you
read my first review, the Many Faces of Q*bert in Retrogaming Times (RT) issue #33. There was a lot of research that I felt was necessary I
were to do a proper job filling the hole left when Doug Saxon gave up
thereigns. I could have jumped in right
away, but I'm sure now that I wouldhave made
far too many mistakes and am glad that I took my time getting prepared
for the task. I knew that I could make the reviews more completeand appeal to a larger audience if I expanded to include all
classic 8 bitsystems of the day (at least,
those in the US). I wanted to become more
intimate with the libraries of all the 8 bit systems, and since I did
not begin retro-collecting until 1995 or 96, I had a lot of catching up
todo. At that time, I was also helping Tom
Zjaba with his Arcade Conversions list (see
below) and if nothing else, my findings would be used for more than one cause. I didn't realize how much work would be involved but it
was a work of love that grew and grew. I planned to review titles thatwere both popular, had many faces and I actually had them all, or
most ofthem. Not having all the games I
needed made things difficult, but also narrowed the choices of what to
review each month. Despite my large andstill
growing collection, many popular titles were skipped because I wasmissing 1 version. Initially, I went ahead and reviewed
relatively populartitles, as long as I had
all of them, without regard for possible the TI-99 and/or Apple II
versions. I didn't think that I'd ever start findinganything, but productivity and edutainment carts for the TI and
it wasfutile to worry about the Apple II
unless I received a huge infusion of games, especially since I had none, and no AP2 H/W either. Once I
actually acquired those systems & some games, I quickly researched their games and then constrained my monthly choices
even further now I could not excludethese
systems either. All versions or nothing. My earliest articles leavemuch to be desired, and my ignorance was shining brightly with
plenty of mistakes then. Fortunately, a few of my mistakes lead to
reader feedbackand offers of assistance which
I gladly took advantage of, ultimatelyleading
to a much better product.
Classic Arcade Conversions
Tom got me started with his terrific Arcade Conversions list at:

I was able to help Tom beef up his list, and ask if it was OK to take
his list one step further.
This lead to . . .

2000 Video Games
The research was now three-fold. 1) Arcade Conversions for Tom, 2) 2000
VG - all carts and arcade versions on all classic home systems, and 3)
TheMany Faces of articles. The data was
shared by each of the three projects,so this
really inspired me to dig in deep. I finally reached over 2000 games and published those results back in late 2000. I have since
forgotten the current tally, but you can see the 2000 VG list and moreabout it at:

This list became a compilation of every game ever made for (mostly US)
home systems on cart or as an official re-release of an arcade game.
Tom warnedme, or wished me luck in not
getting divorced in the process of tabulating
every cart out there. Fortunately, I had a very understanding wife.
While I've not maintained this list much recently, it still may be the only
one like it out there of course, besides Tom's Arcade Conversions list,
whichstarted it all.

In Search of the Many Faces
Besides learning which officially released versions existed, I had to
make some reasonable plan for how to acquire more games. I only needed
to havethem on my machine to play, such as on
a multi-cart, a Cuttle cart, or viafloppy
disk etc. I decided early on that I did not want to use emulation for my reviews, rather, only the real McCoy in the actual controls or
keyboard. This lead to even more games being skipped over, but there
werestill plenty of faces out there. I am
glad that I passed on emulators, asit makes
me feel better about the quality of my reviews.

Repeat Faces
After several requests, I went back to revisit several titles that Tom
Zjaba or Doug Saxon had done earlier. By including all home versions Imade several readers much happier about this project. Yes, I
still owethose TI-99 fans a review at the now
silver medal winning Q*bert. I did not have the game back then, but I
do now and its scores merit it a Silver
Medal. There are still about 7 such AP2 ports, and a couple C64 games
thatI now have and hope to review some day.
These versions show up as holes inmy data
collected and this encourages me to fill them in.

20th Anniversaries
Too bad I didn't think of this sooner. By focusing on titles that were
20 years old (from their initial release), it
made it easier to select mymonthly reviews &
limit my searches on ebay as well :-) This processquickly got enhanced by adding reader feedback. RT and RGVC
readers were more than happy to pick their favorite games by year and
knew that theirvote counted for something as
well. This change did push back many bigname
/ popular titles on my planning list, but not too far. 2004, (20thanniv of 1984) will be the final year, as most 1985 titles escape
the bounds of the joystick era (Fred Wagaman term). In 2004 & 2005,
there'llbe a few 25th anniversary reviews
(1980 titles) plus the remaining bignamed
titles until we reach issue #100. Some will be incomplete, but that is
OK. If you look at my spreadsheet you can see my complete (but neverfinal) plan. I plan to review 12+ of the many, 15 versions of
"Frogger"for the Retrogaming Times milestone
100th issue.

Statistics & Scores
With so many scores, now 40+ titles & 240 versions, the data is very
meaningful and carries some momentum. Past data is used to keep the
scoresof my current reviews in line. I
compare the scores by system, game and
category to make sure that the results are more consistent. Should I
score that as a 6, 7 or an 8? If over time I'm off by 1 point, its
closeenough, but 2 points would be bad. So,
I look at the data and decide ifthe current
scores are too high/low or the older scores are too high/low and make a change. I also only want the very best to earn a 10.
Controls scores are a little different. We expect, and know that the
programmerstry to perfect their code to
maximize the control, but the same cannot be
said about graphics and sound. They have to meet a deadline and the
game must be playable (controllable). Make sure to look at the
compositescores of each game (as a set of all
versions) and all games for a givensystem.
At a glance you can tell how good the various systems perform whencompared to each other. Actually, what we see is limited by how
much programming effort or skill went into the game's code, the play
testing,and improvements. Some games were
not finished/released or were rushed tomeet a
deadline, and thus are a shadow of what they could have been.

Commercial Interruption
We interrupt this long article to thank one of our sponsors, the Classic
VG Commercials in the Retrogaming Times by Adam King. Adam and I have
beenable to make a few issues work together
with our review of the sametitles. Many
games have come and gone and we've missed our chance tocombine efforts, but there are still a few more that we'll try to
simulcast - so stay tuned.

Biased
I am partial to playing the systems that I grew up with, namely the 2600
& C64. But I think that I've done a decent job of keeping my scoresunbiased. I've challenged my own scores and sometimes it may be
possiblethat I've been too hard on the
Commodore 64. I've received the most reader feedback on the
Intellivision. Most agreeing those Controls scores shouldbe poor, but others hoping that I'd given the INTY better scores.
Iprobably score the Intellivision controls a
little higher than I wouldpersonally score
them. I figure that if I really, really used them more I'd be upping
those scores anyhow. As mentioned above, I have gone backand changed some scores. Over time, I've found inconsistencies,
and afterthe review, went back and changed
about 80 scores. Most have been changedfor
all versions of a specific title all scores were +! Or -1 for the
Addictiveness, Sound or Gameplay. Others were specific to one system,
suchas the Inty Controls where I may have
been too critical at the time of thereview.
There's also the Inty pause feature (my ignorance) that I had to go back and add 1 point several places. Overall, more scores went up,
but they should all be pretty consistent. Feel free to specifically ask
orchallenge me, why did game X on system Y
score a 6, but another game onanother system
scored a 7. I may very well go back and change it. Also note that the
medal count is based upon the revised scores.

How Many, "Faces" are there?
Unfortunately, we know that all good things must end, and at some point
the Retrogaming Times will be no more. There are still plenty of games
outthere, possibly as many as 150 more with 3
or more official versions. Atmy present
pace, we will get at most 35 more in by RT issue #100, at which point I
am likely to be burned out and only do then when I can. Regardlessof how things go, I plan to keep reviewing these and saving the
resultsonline. Until there are no more
faces remaining, I hope to keep thisproject
active. On my spreadsheet there is also a column that says how many
titles are left for that system I think I calculated this based uponRT issue #100.

This is a rough count, but gives us an idea of how evenly the games are
getting selected. The 7800 has done really well, but is also a system
thatmay have best been placed in the next era
of game (ie NES and the joypad era). The CV scores pretty well with a
large number of versions, and also fewer duds than the C64 and Atari.
The C64 and Atari 8 bit have thelargest
libraries, and among the best scores. That should be a good clue totell you what systems are best to play games on. They are both
plentifuland score well most of the time.
This is also a good indicator that I made the right decision to include
the home computer systems in the Many Facesof
project. Hopefully the larger number of faces and systems has broughtin more readers and critics alike. Those who only like the
platforms or cart versions can still use my sheet and pull off data to compare just
those head to head as well.

Bit Age Faces
Yes, at some point, I eagerly began researching for the next era of
games, the bit age. Trying to get them into my collection, and hoping
to dosimilar reviews in Tomorrow's Heroes Bit
Age Times newsletter. But I neverhad enough
time to get very far, nor did I have the experience playing these games as much. The data was a little harder to acquire online, atleast at the time, and so maybe in 20 years, or after I exhaust
the ManyFaces of the joystick era, I will
begin this task. Better to do one jobwell,
than two jobs poorly.

Many Thanks
There are many players & collectors and/or their sites that I owe credit
for my research and help in making this a great project to beleading. I'll not try to list them all, but hope that you'll
understand that I may have forgotten you, but yours efforts have been appreciated.
First of all, I need to thank my very understanding wife,Kathy, who was, is, and ever shall be upset with me for all that
I now have collected, and reminds me over and over that we should move into a
bigger home to showcase my collection. I don't know if she will ever
forgive me,or Tom for helping me to get going
on my collecting sprees. I'm sure thatI
would have ended up a big time collector anyhow, but Tomdeserves credit for assisting me, but also warning me not to get
burned out either. Ofcourse were it not for
Tom's site and his Retrogaming Times then none ofthis would have been possible. Thanks again for Doug Saxon
allowing me totake over the reigns, and for
trading to me the Odyssey 2 version of Q*bert
which launched my era in taking the lead in this project. Many thanks
to Twin Galaxies referees Robert Mruczek, Ron Corcoran, and most of all
StepenKnox who have helped significantly in
my reviews when I was in a bind. Ahuge asset
has been Matt Allen who knows the C64 games better than almostanyone. Special thanks to Jim Krych and the Greater Cleveland
area TI chips club for helping me to learn
about the TI-99 so quickly. Likewise another local guy, Tom McLaren who
assisted me with his favorite classicsystem,
the Apple II. Without his efforts in hardware, and software, therewould be no reviews on this great classic system. There are
several online sources that have helped, but no one resource has helped
me more than Digital Press Guide and their gang of experts. Joe
Santulli has alsohelped me directly. Without
their collector's guide, I may never have gonedown this path at all.
Some of the best locations are Gamebase64, Blue Sky Rangers, 2600.com planetsinclair and the Giant list of Classic list of
Programmers.

James Hague maintains this Giant list and while I check it almost every
month, I've thanked him and have hopefully since repaid my debt bycontributing to that list as well. I've shared my research into
specificsystems, then compile it for him to
add to his list

Many Faces Site Upgrades
As I've mentioned before, I plan to keep working this project and
revising things online. But I'm not much of a web editor, so nothing
will looknice, nor will things be revised too
often. I feel a certain obligationthat if I
stop writing these reviews for the RT, then it will be my fault if the
magazine ceases to continue. I also feel that it is a great way toprovide something back to the VG community, possibly a historicalarchive in some respects. Per the request of several readers,
I'll try to compile unique screen shots of each version as well as my
photo collagesand post these online. This
will take some time but I should at least be
able to post the ones that I still have stored electronically. I can
only put a few pictures in each issue of the RT, but can put lots more on my
own web site. Thanks again for your interest and support.

This first letter
is not the first one I have received. I have received several. While I
can sympathize with the people who were ripped off by whoever this
company is, I cannot help but get upset by the people who just go into a
search engine and start accusing the first place they find. This is one
of the nicer letters that I have received. Just another reason why I
will be removing my email address from the website in the near future.

I am not sure if I
have the right company, but there have been several debits to my
bank account from Fortune Builder. I have denied them through my
bank. I do not recall purchasing anything from this company. If
there is an account in my name, XXXXXXXX,
please let me know and e-mail me an audit of my account as I do not
recall having one. I would like to know what this is all about

As I said, this is
one of the nicer ones. Most people have emailed and swore at me,
threatened to sue me and other fun stuff. And it is all over this
following page on my website (which comes up first on Google):

Guess I will have
to put a disclaimer on this page as well. This reminds me of when I was
approached by an attorney warning me that his client owned the rights to
the term "Mountain Madness". I told him to talk to the Blue Sky Rangers
who coined that name for their Intellivision game back in the 1980's
(Mountain Madness Skiing). There is always something hilarious in the
classic game world.

Here are some of
the results from the question: "What classic video game would you like
to see made into a movie?"

-Adventure for the Atari 2600. It would rock to see those dragons in
CGFX.

-I would make it NO VIDEO GAME EVER. Noone wants to see another good
game made into a poor movie. Not ever again.

-How about Elevator Action (Returns)? Either one would be good. The
first one would be a little more simplistic action movie and the second
one could be more of a special effects movie. The actor? Governor
Arnold of course!

-Syndicate - Actually wrote a treatment for it once, but never did
anything with it. Would make a cool TV show, lots of blade runner
action.

-Pong in 3-D!

-Not sure what the story would be, but I would like to see a Joust
movie.

Well, Alan Hewston put up the
challenge and I thought I would have a go at it. That is, inform
some of you people, particularly many of the American readers of RT,
about the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

When the topic of Retro gaming and classic computers comes up,
the most regular things discussed seems to be Atari, Commodore 64 or
early Nintendo. But in England and to a lesser extent Australia, you
cannot even bring up the subject without someone talking about the
Speccy (The Sinclair ZX Spectrum). While it is almost totally
unheard of in the US, the Spectrum was the biggest selling home
micro (that is what they call small computers in England) ever.
Millions of Spectrums were sold through out Great Brittain with many
more sold throughout Europe and as far as Australia and New Zealand.
Thousands of games were released for the system. Some sources say
there has been more games made for the Spectrum than any other
single system (except the PC).

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was released in England in April
1982. The philosophy behind its launch was to create the cheapest
colour home computer on the market. Two versions were initially
released, one with 16k RAM and one with 48k RAM. Obviously the 48k
version was vastly more successful. 48k was a large amount of memory
at the time, and combined with high resolution colour graphics and a
built in sound generator, the Spectrum sold rapidly. In fact it took
less than 18 months for Sinclair to sell its first million
Spectrums.

But by aiming to make the computer for such a low cost meant
that a lot of short cuts had to be made. The keyboard is made up of
little rubber keys. This made the Spectrum look more like a toy than
a computer. There were no joystick ports and games had to be
controlled by using a combination of squishy rubber keys. Perhaps
Sinclair’s most unusual cost cutting trick was to actually use
faulty 64k memory chips.

The graphics, while being quite a high resolution of 192 x
256, only two colours could be used in any 8x8 square, one for the
background and one for the foreground. This caused the infamous
Spectrum colour-clash. Some very clever programming gave some games
a great mix of bright colours, but sprites were nearly always
mono-coloured and backgrounds looked very bland when compared to
those of the very colourful Commodore 64. The Spectrum has a palette
of 8 colours, but with the very useful BRIGHT attribute programmers
could effectively produce up to 15 colours.

Perhaps the weakest aspect of the Spectrum was its sound.
Unlike the C64’s brilliant SID chip, the Spectrum only had a very
basic beeper controlled by a simple BEEP statement. It was single
channel, making the vast majority of games sound awful. I have
always found it better to have some loud music playing when I am
using my Spectrum.

But as with the majority of classic computer and video games,
it was the gameplay that really shone through. As already mentioned,
hundreds and hundreds of games were produced for the Spectrum. They
nearly all came out on cassette tape. There were the usual arcade
translations as well as some incredible original games that are
regarded as absolute classics today - games such as Jet Pac, Manic
Miner, Jetset Willy, Chuckie Egg, Knight Lore and many, many more.

Jet
Set Willy

Jetpac

Some of England’s greatest game programmers started out
programming games for the Spectrum in their own bedrooms. Perhaps
the most famous of these is Microsoft’s $300 million baby Rare. The
Stamper Brothers started off programming for the Spectrum under the
name of Ultimate. And they were certainly the ultimate programmers,
creating mind blowing games that pushed the humble Spectrum seemly
way beyond its limits. Some of Ultimate’s most well known and loved
games include Pssst, Cookie, Atic Atac and Sabre Wulf.

In 1986 Sinclair sold the Spectrum to Amstrad. Amstrad quickly
brought out “upgrades” of the Spectrum, the +2 and the +3. The +2
had a built-in tape drive while the +3 used a 3inch disk drive. Both
computers also had proper keyboards.

Despite strong competition from the Commodore 64, the Amiga
and the Atari ST, he Spectrum continued to sell right through to the
early 90s. But by 1992 it pretty well breathed its last. But with
literally millions of people for whom the Spectrum was the first
computer / video game system they ever owned, the spectrum will
never be forgotten. Particularly in England the following for the
Spectrum seems to be as strong as ever. Emulation is a huge
business. There are very good Spectrum emulators available for the
PC, Mac, Amiga and even the Dreamcast has one. So with a bit of
searching around the emulation sites you can very soon have an
emulator and dozens of games so you can checkout for yourself what
all the fuss is all about. Or if you have a few dollars to spare,
why not have a look at ebay where you can regularly find dozens of
Speccys and hundreds games up for auction.

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is one of the true classics in the
area of Retro Gaming. In some ways it was a shame the vast majority
of Americans never got to experience the Spectrum in its heyday.
Also, there is no way I could do the Spectrum any real justice in
this one article. If you would like to get more information on the
Spectrum, then check out the following web pages.

This site is better known as Planet Sinclair. There is loads
of info about games, peripherals, software and other computers made
by Sinclair. One of the more interesting parts of the site is the
information on the games industry relating specifically to the
Spectrum.

In the U.K. many magazines were released for the Spectrum.
CRASH was arguably the best. Its focus was mainly on the games. It
quickly became the biggest selling computer magazine in England,
selling over 100,000 copies a month at its peak. This site has an
extensive amount of information as well as scans of all the covers
and reprinted review examples from each issue. Brilliant site.

This is where you will find everything you need if you are
interested in emulating the Spectrum. There are heaps of emulators
available for your PC, Mac, Amiga, Dreamcast, Gameboy Advance and
even your Nokia phone. There is also well over 7000 games available.
Hardware enthusiasts will also find lots of information about
hardware specifications.

(Tonks is a keen retro-gamer from Australia. He is married and
has two sons who just love playing with their Dad's ever growing
collection of conoles and games. Tonks collects mainly Vic 20,
Amiga, Vectrex, NES and Commodore 64, but generally just loves
videogames. Tonks values your comments and he can be contacted at
tonks777@bigpond.com).

Greetings, gamers, and welcome to back to
RCV. This month is also dedicated to George Plimpton, who passed
away on September 26th. He did a lot of things during his writing
career, but of course we remember the two years he spent bashing
Atari and glorifying Intellivision. So I decided to serve up another
double dose of Plimpton, doing what he does best.

Intellivision vs. AtariThis was one of the early
Plimpton ads. He tries to make his pint by showing off both systems'
basketball and soccer games. We see Atari gameplay footage compared
with Intellivision footage, meant to show us which console is
better. BTW, this is the second commercial in the series; he did a
previous one comparing baseball games.

"I've been making more comparisons between Mattel Electronic's
Intellivision and Atari. Different games, but the same results. Look
at Atari Basketball. And Intellivision. I think Intellivision plays
more like real basketball. Here's Atari soccer. And Intellivision.
Again I find Intellivision more sophisticated and lifelike. If you
try them both I think you'll find the clear winner is Intellivision,
from Mattel Electronics."

"Gather around, children, for a little look 'n' learn."

"Witness the battle of the Basketballs."

"I think I made my point. Atari bad. INTV good."

This ads does do a good job making Mattel's point clear.

Intellivoice ModuleOur next spot is for Mattel's
Intellivoice module, the box that gave some INTV games speech.
Plimpton shows that the Atari just has blippy sound effects, yet the
Intellivision can actually do voice clips.

"I'm about to show you something new for Intellivision that will
revolutionize the way games are played and compared. First, here's a
popular Atari game. Now don't look."
[Plimpton covers the screen with his hand, and we hear Asteroids]
"And here's new Space Spartans for the Intellivoice module."
[Plimpton again covers the screen, and we hear several voice clips
from Space Spartans]
"New Intellivoice. Now that Intellivision talks, you can tell the
difference with your eyes closed."

"Time for another lesson on why Intellivision rules."

"Hey! No peeking!"

The magic box that makes it all possible.

Geez, Mattel was attack Atari on all fronts, weren't they?

That's it for this month. I know you're wondering about some of the
ads I'm going ot feature on the Commercial Vault CD. Next month I'll
offer a sneak preview at two ads you won't find anywhere else. Until
then see you next month.

I couldn’t find the time to squeeze this
review in last month, but it’s still pretty timely since the NBA
season just tipped off 3 weeks ago. And of course this is yet
another 20th anniversary review of the games from 1983. As the first
sports title in Many Faces, it may seem a little out of place from
the typical reviews - arcade games, platformers, collect-em ups,
shoot-em ups - but let’s give it a try.

Electronics Arts has a great reputation for
sports video games and those beginnings started with games like One
on One and programmer/designer Eric Hammond. Eric first put us “into
the game” by emulating the skills and actions of 2 of his favorite
NBA stars. We then play 1 on 1 versus a computer or human opponent,
using their talents and ability, not ours. The manual gives us the
NBA stars perspective on the half-court match up, and how to play
offense and defense. We also learn that Larry Bird insisted that
fatigue be programmed in as a major factor in the game. Similarly,
Eric tells us that he was unable to include hook shots, but in the
future, given enough CPU memory . . . This was one of those games
that stood out and made you take notice back in 1983. The sound was
not great, but the plethora of gameplay options and overall re-play
value were phenomenal – like nothing ever seen before, and surely
raised the standards for all sports games to follow. Likewise, ask
your friends and find out how much PT they spent on this game,
playing it to death - trying to win. Even then, they’d have to swap
sides to win with the other NBA star. This was damn frustrating
game, trying to defeat the computer, cursing at it, determined that
it was cheating. You’d want to smash the joystick to pieces, but
this just added more fuel to the fire, as your became even more
obsessed with winning - especially if it WAS cheating. Yes, this
title should bring back some strong emotional memories of “you
versus the computer” on some game, some system from your younger
days.

Home Version Similarities: Except those in
<>, all versions have: a demo <CV>; use about 70% of the floor of
the half-court; a choice of 4 skill levels (Park & Rec, Varsity,
College, & Pro); several choices for game duration (2, 4, 6 & 8
minute quarters or the first to reach a certain score, selectable
from 01 to 99; a choice of who gets the ball out next; three point
shots; a backboard that can be smashed <CV>, followed by the janitor
cleaning up a million pieces (how many of you were ROTFLOL – the
first time you saw this?); ability to steal the ball, or block
shots, but possibly getting called for a foul; the referee <CV>
jumps out to call the foul - provides a text message naming the foul
or event; scoreboard keeps track of all fouls; you can then shoot
free throws; including a bonus if the field goal was made; a slow
motion option <AP2, CV & C64>; a 24 second shot clock; instant
replays <CV> for awesome plays; a net that goes swish every time
<AP2>, (regardless if it was “nothing but the bottom of the net” –
ESPN term); a meter to track your fatigue; and 3 time outs to
completely rest your fatigued player; hot streaks shootng if you
were en fuego; a pause <CV?>, and anytime access to the options menu
<CV?, AP2? unsure?> to change settings & then resume the same game.
On a scale of 1 to 10, the Gameplay on most versions goes to 11!

Have Nots: Sinclair Spectrum (N/A my guess
28 to 36?)
Once again most US readers (including me) have not seen this system
in action. If you have an interest in reviewing the Spectrum’s Many
Faces and comparing & scoring them for us, we’ve love to have you.
Fortunately I found a “Crash Magazine” review of this
cassette/diskette port (on Planet Sinclair) but it was all negative.
The photo on the box was misleading showing the C64, whereas the
spectrum graphics were ‘appalling with monochrome players’ & one
player’s shirt/body is transparent – ‘ see the court markings right
through him’. The review plus screenshot reveals that all of the
options were in place, including using 2 controllers via the
spectrum interface box. But, the physics were poor like ‘they are
walking on the moon’ and terrible sprite underlap - ‘other player
could nick the ball without being anywhere near me’. Overall this
game is ‘neither addictive nor playable’ – but it has lots of
options.

This cover preferred over the one showing a C64 screen.

Have Nots: CoCo TRS-80 (N/A my guess 35 to
41?) Since I do not have a CoCo disk drive, nor
this disk-based game, I cannot properly review it. But from Curtis
Boyle’s reviews at:
http://nitros9.stg.net/coco_game_list.html
plus the screenshot and then knowing the premier CoCo programmer,
Steve Bjork was at work here, it should be a winner. 2-player
joystick mode and all significant elements and options are likely.
Sound would be unknown.

CoCo
Screenshot reveals that most features are present.

Have Nots: Colecovision (35)My first reaction is it’s semi rare, so
many of us will not have it, but then you’re not missing much as
this title scrapes the bottom of the CV barrel. Gameplay is the
worst of any version, but is still very good (8) overall, with
nearly all elements. This port has terrible physics and a
fluctuation in the speed of the action. This port seems incomplete &
CV fans deserve better. There’s no demo, no slow mo, no replay, and
no crashing backboard - that I could see. I could not commit a foul
but the scoreboard shows lights where fouls would be. Addictiveness
is very good (7) but missing the usual pause. The Graphics are
adequate (5) to play the game, but depressing. The players are
monochromatic with no detail and little animation. A large chunk
appears missing from their mid section so that the upper body is
disjointed and the overall height is distorted. They look like space
aliens, or at least Manute Bul. This glitch/feature makes it even
harder to follow the action. The ball is also very puny and hard to
tell where it is relative to your hand. Despite having the best
crowd cheer of any version, the overall Sound is blah (5). There’s
no swish, no crash and no music any time. The Controls may requre a
lot of practice, but are otherwise exscellent (10).

Have Nots: Apple II (35)
My first reaction - This version came first and it might finish
last. The Gameplay is awesome (10) with everything in place. The
Addictiveness is fun (7), but would be better if the two-joystick
mode was easy to use (if it even works at all - I had problems). Two
players using only 1 joystick is even worse. Instead of remaining
fixed all game or all quarter and take turns after each quarter, it
pauses after each possession change to “swap joystick and keyboard -
hit any key to continue”. Talk about killing a game’s rhythm. The
standard pause is the <Esc>. Graphics are beautiful (8), possibly
the best, with numbers on their jerseys, and more color, clarity and
detail than any other. Unfortunately, Sound ranks among the most
annoying (3) of all time. The dribble and time expiration sounds are
fine, but the ref’s whistle is very shrill, and then the most
important aspect of the game (making baskets), results in long loud
screech - representing the crowd cheer. There’s no sound for
actually making a basket mind you, no backboard crash, and no music.
You might as well just turn the sound off and save your ears the
agony. Controls are very good (7), but you’ll probably score it
higher if you’re an AP2 aficionado. I cannot get my joystick buttons
to work (this is about the 5th AP2 game I’ve encountered like this).
Must use keyboard alone, or combine the always hard to use analog
stick & hit APPLE keys to fire/shoot. Disk only.

Bronze Medal: Atari 8
bit (41) My first reaction was why was this port & the
7800 not released until ’87? Gameplay is perfectly excellent (10) &
very complete. Use <start> to enter/change gameplay options and
<option> for time outs & slow motion. Addictiveness is wonderful (9)
using <select> to pause. I should note that I’ve penalized all
versions and none will get a “10”. Any game where you want to
destroy the joystick or call the computer a cheater deserves a drop
in score. So, yes, it is a 10 in re-playability, but too damn
frustrating. Graphics are pretty good (7), but a step down from the
AP2. Sound is fair (5) with a poor crowd noise and no music. All
other effects are in place. Controls are flawless (10). Available on
cart & disk.

Silver Medal:
Commodore 64 (42) My first reaction was the keyboard commands
are not obvious. The Gameplay is excellent (10), only missing
slow-motion . . . but then I can’t justify a lower score just for
that. Enter the gameplay options menu via either <restore> or <F1>,
then move and select options using <F5> & <F7>. “B” and “J” activate
the time outs (this also works on the Atari 8 bit version, and
something “T” ? works on the AP2). Addictiveness is wonderful (9),
with a pause <Control>. The Graphics are pretty good (7), with less
color but more animation. They got sloppy in trying to add too much
detail and the players are messy. The Sound is about the best,
respectable (6), with introductory music and all effects are in
place and sound good. Controls are perfect (10). Disk only.

Gold Medal: Atari 7800 (43)
My first reaction is who is the “Man Development Corp.”? Every
feature is perfect and Gameplay is hall of fame bound (10). All
console buttons are active: <reset> activates menu & allows resume,
<select> enters slow-motion mode. Addictiveness is super (9), the
pause is <pause>. Graphics are of all-star caliper (8) with a really
nice wooden parquet floor. The detail, clarity and colors are better
on the AP2, but animation & physics are smoother here. Sound is not
bad (6) having the same comments as the C64. Controls are a little
awkward with the mandatory 7800 sticks, but perfection (10) is
achievable with practice. Use the right fire button for time outs.

Notes:

Two-on-Two. Can you imagine that next,
small step upwards in evolution that could have occurred? What if
the programs for the Atari 8 bit and even the C64 were enhanced just
a little bit more to play 2-on-2? Perhaps passing would have been
tough (try push button to shoot & hold the joystick towards the
teammate if passing, otherwise it is a shot). Use 4 joysticks (Atari
800 & 5200 4-port) for 4 players, or use 2 sticks, plus keyboard for
2 joystick port systems. Always give the joysticks to the human
players, be it cooperative (both taking on the PC), or competitive
(each has a computer partner). Allow all combinations of 1 to 4
human players, each choosing one of 4 or 6 NBA All-Stars. Keep Bird
and the Dr. but add 1 or 2 more pairs of NBA stars having the same
player type, such as “big men” or “point guards”. These pairs, just
like Bird & Dr. J would have equal skill/ability and comparable size
and speed. Teams would always be 1 player from each pair but would
provide many combinations. You could play 2-on-2, 1-on-1 (each
having a computer team mate), or 2 humans vs PC. Could have been one
of the ultimate 80’s computer party games? Let me know what you
think.

Errata. I received word of an Atari 8 bit
site
http://www.atari8bit-software.de/index_e.htm
worth looking into. It has instruction manuals and information
including an Atari XE (upgraded) version of Crystal Castles. The 8
bit version that I reviewed was bootlegged to disk, but unreleased.
It was ported to the 5200. The XE cart version may be better than
the C64’s gold-medal winning port. I was unaware there was a
cart/disk difference. Maybe some day I’ll be able to borrow or find
this pricey XE cart, or a disk bootleg copy. My apologies.

Come back next time for another, the final
20th Anniversary tribute for 1983, with the Many Faces of “Mr. Do’s
Castle” on the Atari 2600, 5200, 8 bit, C64 & CV. Alan Hewston, can
be contacted at:
Hewston95@NOSPAMstratos.net
or visit his site at
http://my.stratos.net/~hewston95/VG/Hewston_vg.html

Everyone has
heard of the Phillyclassic game show that has been going on for the
past four years. But now there is a second game show in the city of
Brotherly Love. Can a city as big as Philly support two game shows,
especially when both are more slanted towards classic games?
Interesting question. But if anyone can pull it off, the team of
Adam Harvey (or as he is known in the newsgroups as BuyAtari, the
bigtime Atari collector) and Chuck Whitby of the Intellivision
Gaming Network fame, has as good a chance as anyone.

But it will
take more than just some well known people in the game industry.
They have a few things against them. First off, they are going
against a well established game show that will only be a month away
(the East Coast Gaming Expo as it is called will be held on February
13th and 14th, while the Phillyclassic will be held on March 20th
and 21st

If that is not
enough, they decided to put the show on Valentine's weekend. A
video game show is not exactly the romantic trip that most women are
craving from the man in their life. And let us not forget about a
little thing called snow. February is a horrible month for weather
and some people may not like the idea of carting game systems and
games through a foot of snow.

But even with
some obstacles, the show has potential. It has some good leadership
and is in a very populous city that is in very close proximity of
many other large cities (we are talking within driving distance of
New York City, Baltimore, Washington DC, Pittsburgh and other major
cities). So there is a large base to draw from.

It will be
interesting to see how well another Philly based show does. It can
be nothing but good for the industry. Here is a link to the
official site:

Let us turn the
spotlight on a few sites that deserve mention. The first site is
one that I may have mentioned before, but even if I did, it is so
good that it deserves to be spotlight twice. It is none other than
Good Deal Games.
This site has so much information that it would take you days to go
through it all. And that is not counting the ton of games, both
original and the new games that they have for sale (yes, they have
acquired the rights to several never released games and brought them
to market for game fans). If you have not checked this site out,
now is a great time to do it. Also check out RT contributor, Jim
Krych's Gyruss story that is in the fan fiction on the page. Here
is the link:

Toucan's TI-99/4A's CartridgesBryan has been a long time
supporter of the newsletter and a huge fan of the TI computer
system. He has finally put his passion into a website for all to
read. While it is still in development, the site shows a ton of
promise for fans of the classic game system that never got the
respect it deserved. Check out this site at the following URL:

I actually have
a good reason for the issue being late this month, I got a new
computer and my old Frontpage would not work. But I went ahead and
got a new version, so hopefully I will be able to tinker with it and
learn some of the new features. Also with a new computer, I will be
able to play MAME again and with my own Devastator II coming next
month, I may start up the arcade game reviews. I must say it is
nice to finally have a new computer, my last one was bought in
summer of 1999 and it was quite obsolete then.

Check back next
month as we offer another issue. Now with all my merchandise sold,
I can concentrate on adding to the website for fun. It should make
me more pleasant in the newsletters as a day off from work will
actually be a day off.